Opportunities for Nottingham City Schools

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Ages:  KS1 & KS2

Punchdrunk Enrichment, Nonsuch Studios

£400+VAT (Bursaries available)  

Find out how you and your school can be part of Punchdrunk Enrichment's Teacher-Led Adventures in the East Midlands this Autumn.  

Nonsuch Studios is partnering with the award-winning Punchdrunk Enrichment to bring their Teacher-Led adventures to schools and educational settings in Nottingham and the East Midlands for the first time.   

Ages: 14+

City Arts

Hard copies available via City Arts.

PDF available online

City Arts have assembled a toolkit promoting entrepreneurship to young people looking to enter the arts. 

Read through these accessible, clear and flexible activities that cover subjects including: Branding, Finances, Return on Investment & Networking.   

Ages: KS2

Nottingham City Museum and Galleries

Digital Resource

The resource booklet includes three themes to explore with your class: The colour of Nature,  Mapping your locality and Being a change maker.  Each theme includes 

• An introduction to the theme and how it relates to D.H. Lawrence 

• Lesson plans using writing and visual arts to explore these themes using poems and extracts of writings by D.H. Lawrence 

• Video guides which lead you through each writing activity 

• A resources list and step by step guide to the lessons 

• Curriculum links, plus supporting resources if you would like to develop these into a wider scheme of work.  

These activities can be used as stand alone sessions or as part of a longer scheme of work. Each are aimed at KS2 classes but can be adjusted for younger or older age groups. To download and view other supporting materials click the link below.

Ages: KS2

Various Dates

10.00-11.30 pm or 1pm–2.30pm 

Wollaton Hall

£6 per child

Delve into the history of Elizabeth, seamstress for Lady Willoughby at Wollaton Hall. On this visit you can learn all about her family's travels from Africa to Spain, then her journey to London and Nottingham.  Discover her skills and knowledge as a seamstress and the Tudor fashions.  You will look at replica Tudor textiles and clothing and find out more about what Tudors would have worn from royalty to servants.
 

Nottingham Citizens and partners have been working together on a campaign for Better Books. The aim is to provide all Primary schools in the city with a set of culturally diverse reading books, so that all children’s identities are represented and celebrate. Each school has been provided with a set of new books and Nottingham Contemporary produced resources to encourage children and teachers to explore and use the books.

EYFS, KS1, KS2. Bring literacy to life with Lakeside Art’s storytelling sessions. Children are encouraged to join in the story using their imagination, props, and costumes. Using traditional oral storytelling skills pupils can explore themes, characters of traditional tales and myths. 

The Nottingham Poetry Festival  have four Bitesize 10-minute digital workshops for schools, created by local Nottinghamshire poets. The aim is to encourage children and young people to enjoy and create poetry. 

Primary and Secondary. First Story’s extra-curricular Young Writers’ Programme includes writing workshops which equip students with the skills and confidence to tell their own stories, with whole-school activities which encourage writing for pleasure. It also includes CPD for educators and access to a range of resources, events and competitions. First Story’s work expands young

people’s horizons and encourages aspirations, giving participants the skills to thrive in education - and in life. Download the PDF. Staff can also access dedicated creative writing CPD. 

Year 7 and 8. Secondary schools are still able to access this fun and effective catch up reading programme. Help students improve their reading, get them engaged and motivated and find their reason to read today. Skills Academy costs £150. You can register an unlimited number of students on the programme throughout your 12-month subscription. When you sign up to the programme your school also receives a year's membership of the National Literacy Trust worth £100, which gives you access to all of their resources. 

Give your students the opportunity to see what it’s like behind the scenes of Nottingham Playhouse, to understand the various roles in theatre and see the teams at work. Led by a member of the Participation Team, students will hear from professionals about what they do day-to-day and how their role contributes towards the productions.  

Schools Massive is a unique large-scale performance opportunity for Nottingham Schools to bring a class of up to 30 children to perform a Shakespeare scene on the main stage at Nottingham Playhouse. Each participating school will receive half a day of   teacher CPD at the Playhouse, led by expert practitioners, on helping young people understand and enjoy with Shakespeare. 

Nottingham City Libraries have a wealth of resources for schools. Their website is packed with things to do for school classes: free ebooks and audio books, links to great free story/author sites, plus artist led sessions, theatre productions including related online resources and more. You can book library visits to your nearest library. Children and staff are able to borrow reading books and non-fiction titles to take back to school and share stories, encouraging learning and reading for pleasure.   

KS1-KS2. Sessions at 10.30-12.00 or 1.00-2.30. £5 per child
Using original artefacts see how stone age people hunted and fed themselves, made shelters and used their surroundings to sustain them. Have a go at your own piece of cave art and try out a bow saw. 

KS2-KS5. The National Justice Museum is offering blended learning workshops to schools unable to visit their site. Working with you, their expert facilitators will  deliver live, interactive learning into your classroom. Workshops are held via Zoom and Teams, and can even be delivered to students at home if your school has temporarily closed. 

Years 7-9. Developed in partnership with the National Justice Museum and Ben Kinsella Trust, this workshop has been proven to make a difference in changing attitudes to knife crime among the young. To find out more please contact NJM.     

Primary. The education loans service at Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, ‘Access Artefacts’, has a collection of over 11,000 museum objects, all suitable for handling and available to use in the classroom. The collection covers a wide range of themes including social history, archaeology, geology, industrial history, the natural sciences and many others.  

Creswell Crags & University of Nottingham

Ages KS2   

Mondays to Wednesdays - term time   

Engaging and practical KS2 discovery days delivered by the Creswell Crags Learning Team at the University of Nottingham Museum, Lakeside Arts.

Designed to help your students’ understanding of the changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, a visit to the University of Nottingham Museum is the perfect way to learn about pre-historic Britain. Your students will have an opportunity to learn what we know about prehistory and how we know about the changes that took place. 

Ages 3 to 11. A resource designed to support teaching art in primary school. It provides developmental guidelines and art lesson ideas across the 3 to 11 age range. 

The approach is based on a simple idea: THAT ART IS A VISUAL LANGUAGE.

Suitable for all ages and abilities.
Bring Nottingham Contemporary’s exhibitions into your classroom through Virtual Reality. Free resources explore activism and women’s role in protest, the foundations of art – colour, line, shape, pattern and light, as well as fashion and performance. Access VR versions of our exhibitions here. Please email for more information.   

Nottingham Contemporary, Mondays, suitable for all ages and abilities
Visit Nottingham Contemporary on Mondays for an exclusive exploration of the new exhibitions combined with an Artist Experience workshop.  Find out more here or contact the Schools programmer for Secondary schools to book. 

Ages: KS1-2 

In their work with schools Freedom Foundation have seen an increase in anxiety, issues with attendance, lack of resilience and aspiration, and the negative impact of social media on young people. Drop Down Days cover important PSHE outcomes including identifying emotions, how to recognise and deal with anxiety, positive and negative impact of online behaviour, how social media and technology use affects mental wellbeing and improving self-confidence. Please email or phone for more information 0115 993 2370.

A free guide for Education Professionals

Created for education professionals – supporting students in the midst and aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic – this free guide explores the relationship between learning and wellbeing. It considers the positive impact of creativity on children and young people’s ‘learning brains’ and how this can help to strengthen young people’s wellbeing and resilience. The guide also includes a series of practical and creative activities that educators can use in the classroom.

The Pythian Club (TPC) offer a programme of activities for educational settings (mainstream and alternative provision) to support their young people to become the best versions of themselves. Activities on offer include, sport, music, train safety and nature (climate change and sustainability) workshops, mentoring support and outreach support. The activities are designed to support young people’s physical and mental wellbeing as well as teaching them life skills. 

Use these sessions as the perfect start to your students’ day to create a positive mindset, inspired and ready for the day of learning ahead. Motivational Mornings has had positive feedback from both students and teachers about the impact it’s had on confidence and motivation levels. The sessions are delivered through Freedom Foundations Lockdown Learning Hub - a safe space for students to access. 

Ages 8+

The Creating Connections learning activities have been designed by NAE Associate Artists Shamila Chady and Elaine Winter for for use at home or school. Creating Connections is designed to help young people make positive connections with others their age where there is a feeling of disconnectedness due to cultural and other differences. 

Freedom Foundation deliver their 12 week Freedom Factory sessions in school time or as an after-school club. Using street dance and hip-hop, singing and song writing their 90 minute sessions with up to 30 children build confidence, resilience and aspiration, educate about the impact of social media on mental health and help children cope with common mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, depression and self-harm. 

Primary.  A series of free, short 5 to 15 minute videos and creative tasks which can be done in the classroom or at home. The MoveMore team also offer further support called ‘Beyond MoveMore’ which offers face to face sessions, virtual dance sessions and also CPD training for teachers.

NAE’s Associate Artists have been devising dynamic art activity ideas for young people and these are now accessible for teachers, parents and young people to download from the NAE website. 

Did you know that Nottingham City Schools can travel for free to events or activities using Nottingham City Transport?  Applications are made through the Aquinas Foundation.at least one week in advance by email to to the Aquinas Foundation   

james.freeman@aquinaseducation.co.uk
Tel: 0115 9244788 

KS2-KS3
An award winning, immersive, day-long teacher led/actor supported visit to Papplewick Pumping Station, meeting characters from the museum's industrial and social history. The visit is part of an education offer with extensive cross curricula resources investigating Papplewick’s local, social and engineering history, and its significance as a site for considering the management of global water resources today.  

Ages 7-11
Do you work with children aged 7–14 to provide extracurricular learning opportunities? Sign up to Children’s University (CU) for free and join us as we recognise and celebrate extracurricular! Nottingham Trent CU is coordinated at Nottingham Trent University. Our goal is for participants to feel the joy of learning beyond the classroom whilst having an enriching experience building their cultural capital. Interested? 

Suitable for all Primary and Secondary Pupils
As part of FOSAC (Nottingham's annual Festival of Science and Curiosity in Feb each year) pupils develop their own science investigations about the questions that matter to them, and work with scientists who specialise in that field to help work out the answers.  flexible for different ages, time-frames and the topics can be tailored to support curriculum teaching and extra-curricular activity in your school.. Take a look at this year's highlights! 

We're pleased to bring you the second edition of our free creative activities pack designed for Nottingham’s children and young people. It’s filled with over 40 engaging and fun activities created by 20 of Nottingham’s arts organisations. 

Votes for Schools is an award-winning platform giving your students a voice on the issues that affect them the most, as well as supporting you to consistently embed SMSC, British Values and Prevent across your school. 

Meet some of Wollaton’s magnificent trees, learn to identify them and take a closer look at their leaves, flowers, bark and seeds as well as the animal life that lives on and around them. Fun practical science activities including measuring trees, comparing leaf shapes and bark patterns and finding out what woodlice like. You’ll see species of trees whose ancestors lived at the same time as dinosaurs. 

Are the arts in trouble in English schools? Enrolments in secondary school arts subjects have fallen, and time devoted to the arts in primary schools is apparently greatly reduced. Creative teaching and learning also appears to be very patchy, with frequent media reports of schools using very ‘traditional’ methods in all subjects and for all topics. RAPS will shed light on how these issues appear in primary schools.

Creativity Exchange is an online community where school leaders, teachers and those working and interacting with schools can embed teaching for creativity and learn from each other.  Find an inspiring range of content in the Ideas Hub to support you to think about how to develop teaching for creativity across the curriculum - including practical ideas, blogs, case studies and book reviews. 

The Creative Schools Network was developed to support East Midlands schools to share ideas and expertise, profile excellent practice, and offer free training and workshops for those with responsibility for ensuring arts and culture thrive in educational settings. It's FREE to join.

Explore the extensive variety of resources available for art and design teachers.

Find out about NSEAD courses, conferences and training opportunities.

The Mighty Creative work with education providers and cultural organisations in the East Midlands to support and develop ways of tackling inequality of access to creative opportunities.

The Cultural Learning Alliance champions a right to arts and culture for every child. They act as a backbone organisation for the arts and cultural education sector, and provide the analysis, evidence, and arguments that Alliance members and their wider sectors can use.

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.